Shen Yu and his men turned the house upside down, but still couldn't find Wan Xueying and the others.
On the other side, the prefect of Ningjiang County had already ordered people to close the city gates on all sides. The reason given to the outside world was also that there were spies infiltrated into the city and they could not let the spies take the opportunity to escape from the city.
He also sent people to observe the area around the city gates. Finally, at a village outside the east gate, the investigative team spotted a group of suspicious individuals. They quickly reported this to the Ningjiang County Magistrate, who in turn sent someone to relay the news to Shen Yu.
Just when Shen Yu was about to lead his men to chase towards the east gate, a word from Xue Lingyue's guard captain aroused Shen Yu's suspicion.
"Before Madam Shen disappeared, she ordered us to guard outside the west gate. Should we continue to do so? Or should we join Master Shen in chasing after him outside the east gate?"
"You said my wife asked you to guard outside the west gate?" Shen Yu turned and asked Xue Lingyue's guard captain.
"yes."
"Then let's not move for now. Tell your people to continue guarding there. Also, I'll send some more people over to help."
This time, not long after, the people who were spying outside the west gate came back to report that another group of people emerged from an abandoned well outside the west gate, and they were carrying several people in sacks.
This made Shen Yu, who had been waiting at the west gate, chase after him without hesitation with his men.
The gang of thieves was very cunning. Every time they reached an intersection or passed through a forest, a carriage would separate from the group.
Shen Yu was afraid of missing the chance to rescue someone, so he could only send a few people to chase the carriage that had been separated.
But when they caught up with the last carriage, not only did they not see Wan Xueying and Xue Lingyue, they didn't even see the sack piece.
Shen Yu could only hope that Wan Xueying and Xue Lingyue were in the previous carriages.
But his judgment proved wrong. The thieves had used a deceptive tactic. Although the carriages contained sacks, they were empty. This meant that even if the thieves had used the sacks to carry someone, it was actually one of their own.
"Sir, that group of thieves is too cunning." Wan Hesu said angrily.
"We were definitely fooled by that group of thieves." Shen Yu was also angry and embarrassed.
"What should we do now?" Wan Hesu asked, "Could it be that they haven't left the city at all?"
Shen Yu nodded, "I'm afraid of that, too." He figured Pei Xuanqing should be arriving soon, so he called Bei Wu over. "Go back and wait for Pei Xuanqing. If he arrives, have him and his men continue their search in the city."
"Yes." Bei Wu received the order and returned to the city.
"Sir, do you mean that we shouldn't go back?" Wan Hesu asked.
"Let's not go back yet. I feel that the other party must have another hideout outside the city. Now that we are out of the city, let's destroy their hideout first." It would be better to say that he believed in Wan Xueying rather than his own intuition.
Since Xueying said those people might have escaped through the west gate, it means there is indeed a secret passage leading to the outside of the west city gate. Since the gang of thieves escaped through the west gate, it means they must have a hiding place outside the west gate, that is, a den.
Regardless of whether the dry well is really the exit of the secret passage, since they have already chased here, they might as well explore the surrounding area first.
This time he trusted Wan Xueying a little blindly. In fact, Wan Xueying just thought that the place was close to West City, and if there was a secret passage, it should be dug towards the nearby city gate.
But this time, Shen Yu's bet was indeed right. Not long after, a subordinate came to report that there were some suspicious people lurking on a hilltop ahead.
"Send someone to investigate again!" After Shen Yu gave the order, he led his men towards the hilltop.
This time he brought more than 200 people, half of the soldiers he had trained in the past two years.
Thanks to the good weather in the past two years, the military households have reclaimed a lot of wasteland, and the land has produced more than in previous years, which has allowed him to have enough food and fodder to recruit more new soldiers.
Also, ever since he became the garrison commander, he insisted on ensuring that all soldiers, whether regular or temporarily recruited, were well fed.
Another reason is that although the north has been blessed with good weather and good harvests, the southern part of Da Yan has been plagued by disasters in recent years, either droughts, locust plagues, floods, or man-made disasters.
Man-made disasters are caused by the fact that after the disaster occurred, local officials did nothing and continued to oppress the people according to their previous habits, making their lives miserable. Some people simply gathered together and rebelled in order to survive.
As a result, more disaster victims flocked to the northern border. After hearing that they could get enough food in the Ningjiang County reserve camp, some young and middle-aged people joined them, making Shen Yu's team even larger.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, the soldiers who had been sent to investigate reported to him that there was indeed a group of thieves here, and they also saw some women holding children. It was most likely related to the cases of missing decent women in many places in recent years, and it might also be related to Xue Lingyue's disappearance before.
If that's true, then this group of thieves is really despicable. They specifically target young women who are kind-hearted and have no defenses against children and women.
After capturing those young women, we don’t know what shameful things we will do to them.
The strangest thing is that the people of the Dark Forest Guard have been investigating for the past few years, but they have not found any useful information after such a long time.
Even Pei Xuanqing refused to believe it and used his identity as the deputy commander of the Dark Forest Guard to send people to investigate. However, the answer he got was that there was a high possibility that there were members of the Dark Forest Guard who were the thieves, and they might have been secretly helping the thieves.
If Shen Yu hadn't been so persistent this time, he would have missed this group of thieves again.
"Sir, what should we do now?" Wan Hesu asked.
"I'll lead my men to deal with them here first. You generals, take your men and go inside to capture them. Kill anyone who resists!"
"Where are those women and children?" Wan Hesu asked.
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. "Similarly, anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!" What women and children? They had already become tools, accomplices. How many decent women had they harmed?
He had to remind them again: "The ones you should be most careful of are the women and children. They are very likely to be assassins." He had seen that when those women attacked, even some new recruits could not withstand it.
Thinking that the thieves were good at using poison, he asked Wan Hesu and others to take the antidote pills prepared by Wan Xueying in advance, and asked them each to carry a packet of medicine powder in case of emergency.
"Is it possible that Xueying and the others were caught here? Would it be disadvantageous for Xueying and the others if we blindly fight the thieves?" Wan Hesu asked worriedly again.
"If Xueying and the others were here, they would have taken Xueying and the others with them to negotiate with me." This was also Shen Yu's idea from the beginning. He added, "If not, then Xueying is definitely not here."
"I understand. I will do as you command."
Wan Hesu and others then dispersed and hid in the surrounding areas with their men.
The author has something to say:
This book is nearing its end, and there will be fewer updates recently. I hope to give everyone a complete ending.
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